Africa

The long tail of European colonialism still looms large over many migration debates. The well-trodden themes of movement from poor to rich countries, from the global south to the global north, continue to be central to global debates on migration. But there is growing recognition of the importance of other mobilities among the countries of the global south, not least within the African continent, and between Africa and other regions. Moreover the middle income countries of so-called ‘Rising Africa’ – as well as the continent’s conflict-ridden and economically and environmentally degraded territories — are increasingly key to the emergent multi-centred global migration system. COMPAS has applied its inter-disciplinary approach to understanding African migrations on individual, community, national, regional and global scales. Our research has looked at the practices, relationships, institutions and networks that shape experiences of life on the move, as well as the outcomes of migration within, to and from Africa from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.